Category Archives: 2005 Season

In the summer of 2005, the Willamette Radio Workshop appeared on the OPB Radio program “LiveWire,” performing “The Island of Dr. Moreau.” This is a seven-minute adaptation of the final chapter, written by Cynthia J. McGean and performed by Tim McKennie, Greg Alexander, David Ian, Marty Gallagher, Marc Rose, Atticus Mowry, Robert Kowal and Sam A. Mowry. Posted with permission from “LiveWire.”

The Willamette Radio Workshop is excited to announce that they have been honored with the Crystal Communicator Award of Excellence for our production of The Fall of the City by Archibald MacLeish. Fall of the City is a seminal piece of Radio Theater, originally presented in 1937 by the Columbia Workshop, with a cast of 200, including Orson Welles, Burgess Meredith and Paul Stewart. As The Fall of the City begins, a dead woman who has appeared in the town square for 3 days saying nothing finally speaks and she tells of the arrival of a mysterious conqueror, warning “The city of Masterless men will take a master, there will be shouting then, blood after.”

A debate ensues where the people must decide how much of their freedom they are willing to risk for a sense of security from a mysterious conqueror. The Fall of the City is a wonderful radio piece, speaking directly to the issues and political choices we face today. The timeless power of poetry and the spoken word meet in this verse drama written especially for radio by this Pulitzer Prize-winning author.

The timely nature of this story inspired us to re-imagine the piece, using the entire script and a brilliant modern sound design by Marc Rose, we feel this is our best work to date.

Who/What: Willamette Radio Workshop at McMenamins “6th Annual UFO Festival”When: Saturday, May 14, 2005Where: At the Mack Theatre across from McMenamins Hotel Oregon, McMinnville, OregonHow Much: All events are free, open to all agesContact: Sam A. Mowry 503-730-7155. samowry@aol.com

The Willamette Radio Workshop is happy to announce its continuing participation in the McMenamins Hotel Oregon’s UFO Fest in McMinnville Oregon. This year we present another installment in the award winning Dry Smoke and Whispers series, “The Brand of the Gryphon Hawk” by Jerrel McQuen. We will also present a classic Old Time Radio Sci-Fi staple, “Buck Rogers in the 25th Century.” The premiere radio episode, with special guest, Popsicle Pete! The show is free and follows the UFO Parade right down the center of town to the Mack Theater, across the street from the Hotel Oregon.

“The Brand of the Gryphon Hawk” is a comic adventure that follows the adventures of Emille Song, special detective, telepath, outcast and warrior for justice; who works the crime riddled planet of Quaymet where he matches wits with a collection of extra-terrestrial villains as they attempt to take over the world. Well, their world. Quaymet I mean. Anyway join Emille as he takes on Marcori Deedwik and his henchmen with the most insidious plan for world domination you’d ever imagine. It could be happening today! It’s that timely.

Dry Smoke and Whispers has been on the public airwaves for 25 years and has won numerous national awards. Currently airing on XM Satellite radio Sonic Theater channel 163, you can find out more about the dynamic duo that created the sensation at www.drysmoke.com.

The Willamette Radio Workshop is proud to collaborate once again with DSW and present this strange amalgam of 30’s Gangsters, Victorian England and vaguely Middle Eastern motifs that are the planet Quaymet. Buck Rogers is a classic presentation of OTR with live Foley and prehistoric product placement that WRW does so well that it too is award winning.

The cast and crew of this years light hearted epics are: Tim McKennie, Eric Newsome, Greg Alexander, Suzan Zeitlin, Cynthia McGean, David Ian and Sam A. Mowry.
Sound Design and Music is by Marc Rose.
Foley by David Ian
Live sound by Robert Kowal
Special Thanks to Martin John Gallagher, Liz Robbins and Claudine Hemmingway.
Produced by Sam A. Mowry and TransDimensional Media
Directed by Sam A. Mowry

Hello All,
I can’t seem to get the Moreau credits on line from its page so here are the credits for our wildly successful 7 minutes of radio theater insanity, presented live on OPB’s LiveWire and soon to be a minor TV masterpiece (details to follow). Complete bios on everyone here can be found on our “Who We Are” page.

The Island of Dr. Moreau by H.G. Wells
Adapted for radio by Cynthia J. McGean

The Willamette Radio Workshop is proud to announce that Cynthia McGean, the director of our Writers On the air Workshop, was awarded first place in the National Audio Theatre Festival 2004 Script contest for her piece Pandora’s Box. Set in a battered women’s shelter, Pandora’s Box explores a veteran shelter worker’s crisis of hope. First place includes the publication of the Script in NATF Script Book 2004, a scholarship to the NATF Audio Theatre Workshop in West Plains, Missouri and a cash award.

Ms. McGean’s adaptations and original scripts have frequently been featured in WRW’s season. A selection from Ms. McGean’s adaptation of The Island of Dr. Moreau will be highlighted during the April 22nd recording of OPB’s LiveWire radio show. The program is in conjunction with Wordstock and will be taped for broadcast on OPB TV.

Ms. McGean is a published writer whose work has been performed throughout the country. She has also worked onstage and backstage at a number of local theaters, is a longtime advocate for children’s rights and teaches third grade at Lot Whitcomb Elementary School in Milwaukie.

Details of the 2004 National Audio Theatre Festival Script Contest

First Place: Pandora’s Box, by Cynthia J. McGean

Second Place: Partakers, by D.C. Smith

Third Place: Sorry, You’ve Got My Wrong Number, by Rich Orloff

The following plays receive an Honorable Mention:

Lost in a Radio Studio, by Joy Jackson and Paul Feavel

Golden Dreams, Golden Nightmares, by Tony Palermo

Trial by Fire, by Joel Pierson

Seeing Mirrors, by Al Sjoerdsma

Winning scripts will be published in the annual NATF scriptbook, and may be considered for future production by NATF. The judges for this year’s contest were Jeffrey Adams, Icebox Radio Theater; Janine Preston, WKNH Radio Theatre, and Randy Story, NATF.